Hey, we protested and Alexa is the champ and Emma has finally been given a chance. This is solid. Unfortunately, this was a dull week. Russ and Keri are here to help us get through the doldrums of the week. We also brought back the podcast, so everybody rejoice. Yes, Are You Not Kentertained returned this week and we want you to know just how much we are loathing this Cena and Reigns nonsense.

A Battle Royal happened for the Number 1 contendership for The Miz’s Intercontinental Championship. Did the right guy win? Discuss

Russ: Well, Jeff was certainly not my prediction to win this. I thought for sure this was the spot Jordan would get his undeserved push started. Instead they only teased it and we got Jeff instead. I don’t know about this. While this will be harmless and may even produce a good TV match next week. I think they could have still given it to someone who could use the spotlight, like Elias, Apollo, give it that big match feel with Finn (though he doesn’t really need the spotlight.)

Keri: Let me get this straight. They gave a guy who came back as part of a tag team an IC title shot. Huh? So confused right now. Anyways, this match just proves that WWE has little to no faith in Jason Jordan as a singles star. He really should have won this match. I guess it looks like not even “daddy” can help him now. What a mess. This poor belt is so irrelevant at this point that it is kind of sad.

Kent: Any time that you can put an aging out of shape Jeff Hardy over Elias Sampson, Finn Balor, Jason Jordan, Big Show, and Curt Hawkins, you have to, right? Great decision WWE! Maybe we will get the build up to the feud that we have been dying for. The Hardly Boys vs Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas. We’ve all been waiting for that one, right? RIGHT?

Rollins vs Cesaro / Dean vs Sheamus… are we going to see this and slightly different variations all the way up to No Mercy?

Russ: This is a tough one. These 4 guys are some of the best performers in the ring. So having them fight in some variation with each other shouldn’t be terrible. However, as I watched these matches unfold I kept thinking that this was the exact same thing we saw a couple weeks ago. They need to change things up or I may get bored with this feud way too early.

Keri: I’m going to keep this answer short and sweet. So, yes. Yes, they are.

Kent: They can only milk these singles matches for so long before the fans bitch about having consistently great matches because fans are fucking morons. I hope they keep giving us the matches, but maybe ban the partners from ringside. Please, these guys are giving us the best wrestling on either show the past month. I won’t say that Cesaro is really looking like a star, because he won’t ever get pushed like one, but he is owning it in the ring. Kudos to all 4 guys.

Pelvis vs Elias. Was it smart to bring SouthPaw Wrestling into the WWE proper?

Russ: This was stupid. I feel sorry for Elias. Clearly they think he has a future or they wouldn’t keep letting him work this gimmick. I agree I like it too. However, boy did Pelvis fall flat. I think WWE was hoping for a bigger pop and instead the crowd was just confused. I also feel sorry for Ginger with kids who had to come out and get his ass kicked. He deserves to be treated like a real performer and not the joke. Send him back to Smackdown… PLEASE!

Keri: Not sure why this happened or why I should care. The only thing I do have to say is that Creative should keep RAW out of my Southpaw Regional Wrestling. You don’t need to ruin that too WWE.

Kent: No, this was freshly squeezed garbage juice. There were some great fan reactions that ranged from “what the fuck” to “Seriously? You can’t be serious with this shit.”. Not a good way to handle business, but what do I know? Poor Heath. He could be a singles star getting weekly matches. Cesaro could also be a 6 time world champ. Send Heath back to Smackdown ASAP and right the ship.

The Burying Machine Cena met the Unburiable Object Roman. What did we think of this contract signing.

Russ: This was a typical Cena promo, but Roman, eventually, had one of his best promos ever. A lot was said that I honestly thought was taboo and surprised it was said. Still if their goal was to get me to back Roman for me it worked. For the majority of the crowd though it really seemed to backfire. They need to make Roman look strong and while I think he did a pretty good job having him spar off in a promo with Cena isn’t the way to do that. Having Gallows and Anderson come out to put the heat on themselves was done effectively. Too bad they never had a chance. I’ll give WWE some credit here though. They gave this match a very personal feel that wasn’t there until now.

Keri: Wow it’s like Creative took everything the IWC has been saying for the past few years and threw them into a segment. And the thing is I don’t think it helped either guy get over. At least not for me. I’m still rooting for a meteor to hit the ring during the match. Go meteor!

Kent: I seriously am wondering if Roman botched part of his promo. Like he got lost and I could see that happening with how quickly WWE sometimes springs these things on the talent. Cena killed it, won over some fans. Oh, but me. No, I’m not on team Roman either. I protest this match in memory of Baron Corbin’s career. Fuck this shit. Neither guy ever deserved their push to the extent that they got it. That’s a fucking fact. Many guys got looked over or had to suck it up to get them over to the point where both guys just get boo’d a lot. What the fuck is the point then? 10 years of shitty booking, and this is what we have? And the announcers tell us how great Cena is. Are you shitting me? Anybody who got pushed in that way and done the crooked things that Cena has done would get boo’d because the WWE is too oblivious to realize that their hero is not a hero to even half of the crowd. I used to defend Cena, and I respect his Make A Wish stuff, and that’s it. As for ROman, he still can’t cut a fucking promo. Glad Taker jobbed to him. Fuck wrestling.

Emma wins! Sasha Defended her title against Miss Bliss. Let’s talk Raw women in this question.

Russ: I thought for sure Emma was in the process of having a burial on live TV. Last few weeks she has been whining to anyone who would listen about how she isn’t given any chances. Then she gets her chances and loses each of them. So when Mickie made her ultimatum to shut Emma up, I thought for sure this was the death knell of Emma. However, she won! Maybe there is hope for her yet. Except, I don’t like this whiny, hashtagging, annoyance that we call Emma. I want the Emma Kent keeps telling us about. The one that is fantastic in the ring and skilled on the mic. As for Sasha vs Bliss. The right girl won! The belt belongs on Bliss. I also like this story that WWE is telling with Sasha. She can win the championship, but she can’t defend it. I hope they refine this into her character. They have several interesting ways they can take it. Of course knowing WWE this won’t be mentioned ever and her character will continue on like this wasn’t a big deal. Prove me wrong WWE, balls in your court.

Keri: Emma finally got a win and Alexa is champ once more. All is right in the world. Well almost everything. Nia did turn on Bliss so there is that issue. But it’s an issue that I’m excited to see play out. And going back to Emma. I like this thing with her and Mickie. I think they need to keep this up for alittle while longer.

Kent: I loved how petty Emma was backstage. She was doing some great work with Mickie, and what the fuck was Mickie wearing on her head? I love Mickie, but that just was too distracting. I am happy that Emma finally won a match. I used a lot of lotion after that match….because my feet are really dry. I love the story that Sasha can’t win in a title defense. Well, that is until I realize how dumb of a story that is. I am happy that Bliss got her title back and we can move on to her vs Nia, although who is the face in this one? I liked the match a lot, the girls did great. Still, back to this Sasha story that she can win a belt but not defend it. Imagine if they gave that gimmick to Roman or Cena? Oh, they would fail miserably you say? Imagine if Ric Flair had that gimmick. Yeah, the point of creative is to put your stars in position to look like stars so that they can eventually help create new stars. Sorry John Cena, I don’t think your memo had that last bit about making stars. Somebody like Kurt or Taker or HHH can fill you in on how to do that. Yeah, HHH is better at putting people over than Cena is. Think about that one. Go Alexa!!!!

The New Gold Standard “Shelton and Gable” had their first match against the Ascension. Did they impress you? Give us your thoughts.

Russ: I’ll be honest I barely paid attention to the match. It was tough to get into. First, it was against the ascension. Which I’m glad Connor got out there and got to exercise some of the pie off this week, but they are a team that is only hungry for food not a good match. Second, the commercial break killed this match for me. Yes we got to see it during the commercials, but I found it hard to pay attention to it. When it came back it felt like it was pretty much over. So I hope next week we get a better idea of what Gable and Shelton can bring to the table.

Keri: I’m kind of indifferent about this new team’s debut. The match was ok but I really wasn’t impressed. The match was predictable at best. But, the silver lining is the Ascension was on TV this week for something other than the fashion files.

Kent: The commercials are raping Smackdown. What the fuck guys? Ascension doesn’t even get an intro, then the new team gets it’s intro and quickly we are back from break. Whoever is pacing stuff over on Smackdown needs to change this up. Just last week was the Bobby Roode fuckery. As Russ said, I found it incredibly difficult to get into a groove as a fan. These guys will get better, but their music was unimpressive. Emma’s new music sucks. Corbin’s sucks. What gives? Jason Jordan’s sucks. This new team needs to showcase at least 4-5 new double teams, and no, pushing your opponent into Pay Dirt doesn’t count as a finisher.

US Championship Open Challenge and the continuation of the burial of Baron occurred more or less at the same time so let’s talk about them.

Russ: I’m so glad the WWE wants to bring back the open challenge. It was fun when John Cena did it. However, the biggest reason it was fun was because it showcased an excellent match. We knew those challengers won’t going to win. So the point of it was to show us a good match. This did nothing of the sort. The match against Tye was embarrassing and only served AJ. Meanwhile, Baron continues to fall down a very deep hole. He got schooled by both Tye and AJ. Not a good time to be a Baron fan.

Keri: I think I’ve said this before that the open challenge will help make the belt relevant again. I still think this is true and more so because AJ is involved. With that said, let’s talk Corbin shall we. It’s unfortunate what is happening to him. All because some part timer who plays company politics very well said he wasn’t ready. The sad thing isn’t the first time this has happened. Corbin let me introduce you to Wade Barrett and Alex Riley. You guys should talk.

Kent: AJ is the right guy for this task. Unfortunately, the SM writers don’t seem to be up to task. I don’t understand what has changed over the past 6 months. This is bad. Oh and Baron, he’s officially a joke. Seriously, his name was used in a joke during the Carmella and Natty promo backstage. Baron may just need to take a month away. I would rather him destroy somebody and get suspended for a month, let him recharge his batteries, and come back with a vengeance. Or just leave him off, but the beatdown angle works better. Baron needs time away to get away from the BS fallout of the Cena burial. I did like how he called out Cena for not staying so that Baron could get payback. Any calling out of that self righteous prick is fine by me.

KO spoke a lot of truth in his promo. Then he decided that he could be a ref. Them he left the building early. Then nothing! What do we think of his continuing feud with Shane.

Russ: WWE logic is hilarious! The good guys spin the truth and get cheered and the bad guys tell the truth exactly as it is presented and they get booed. Also, I think it is hilarious when they aren’t very consistent with their logic. If a ref is knocked out in front of an authority figure we either have to wait for the ref to wake back up or another ref is brought in. In the case of Baron he left the match. Okay, so the authority figure should have got another ref. Instead he dons the stripes himself. Umm, that is really unfair and biased. Yet we are told that this is cool, because you know Shane is face so he isn’t using his authority in some evil way. WWE logic is the best logic! As for the feud. Hey it is an interesting feud they have going and both KO and Shane are great at what they do. When they eventually have their match it will be a good time I’m sure, but WWE needs to brush up on logical progression.

Keri: I’m bored already honestly. We already had this storyline with AJ and Shane not that long ago. And no offense, KO but you are not AJ.

Kent: It’s weird for me to say this, but KO was doing better on RAW than SD. I hate to say it, but it’s true. I liked him being the ref. I liked him interrupting and helping Aiden get another win. The thing with this storyline is that KO is 100% in the right and the heel. Poorly written stuff. Why should we be cheering on Shane? KO needs to beat down Shane help us forget the reason this shit started. I like Shane, but this story isn’t doing anything for me.

Bobby Roode, Main Event, Carmella, Fashion Files Season 2, and other stuff. Several things happened on Smackdown. Choose one or more and talk about them.

Russ: I don’t know if it was just the audio or not, but it didn’t seem like Bobby Roode got a very huge pop when his song came on. By the end of the match it was clear that the fans were behind him, but at first it almost seemed like people were trying to figure out who he was. This could be a bit of a problem the WWE may have with future stars coming up from NXT. WWE Assumes the WWE universe knows all about NXT characters. So when Roode came up last week there was no real introduction to him. It was an intro, ill timed commercial break and then a match. It felt like WWE was saying “Hey you know this guy already, so we are just going to put him on the show and let him speak for himself.” I’m not saying this was a bad thing for Roode, who can clearly get himself over with his in-ring abilities and natural charisma as was seen by the end of the squash match. However, what about guys and gals who aren’t that good? If we don’t get a good introduction to exactly what their character is about won’t that ultimately ruin them?

Keri: Let’s talk Carmella for a second shall we? I’m trying to figure it the disconnect between her and Ellsworth rIght now and I can’t. Three weeks or so ago she was wearing a free Ellsworth T shirt and now she’s angry at him for spilling the beans on her plans for her cash in. Ok maybe it’s not that hard to understand. But I guess my question now is why would Ellsworth do to Carmella? I’m still so confused.

Kent: OK, I feel the need to be objective here. I liked Natalya’s shirt. There, I said it. It was fun and clever and suited her well. Tamina didn’t have a great outing, but this will help build her up. The Fashion Files delivered and simultaneously failed because rumors built my hopes up in seeing Harper and Rowan reunited. The shout out to Bob Ross tickled my taint. Finally, I am really confused why Bobby Roode is a face currently.

Bonus Deuce

Rate RAW

Russ: Raw was pretty average this week. I enjoyed the Roman Cena Promo and it gave a personal feel to their match. I loved the fact that Bliss got her title back and is now starting a program with Nia. The Battle Royal was decent if not a little boring. Of course you can’t have an entirely good show. The South Paw thing was a disaster and I hope they don’t ruin a good thing, Gallows and Anderson were used as tools. Finally, how bad does it look for 205 that Enzo is at the top of their pecking order? I mean he gets beat up all the time on the main roster, but now he can beat the 205 roster no problem. That looks awful for 205!

Rating: 5.2

Keri: It was an ok RAW. It was nothing special really. Brock was Brock, Cena and Roman tried to make us choose sides instead of cheering for a meteor, and Alexa has her belt back which is good. And where was Braun? Rating: 4 (half a point deducted for lack of Braun).

Kent: I loved the Tag team single matches and the 2 women matches. I loved Gallows and Anderson, those guys are money. I still love Elias. And now I’m all out of love. Where was Braun? Their biggest star at his zenith wasn’t there. What the hell? At least explain that something came up. The Cena and Roman was self fellating at its suckiest. So bad. The Battle Royal was surprisingly boring as hell. How do you make a battle royal boring? Enzo needs to feud with Ariya Davari and not Noam. Ariya can make Enzo look like a million bucks and work the mic well. Oh, and thanks for the Finn and Bray feud that never feels like a feud, but you know they are one big thing away from making it interesting. Rating 4.7 as I would watch some stuff again or want to see more of it.

Rate Smackdown

Russ: This was another run of the mill episode. Likes: KO a little unhinged was fun, Roode was Glorious (now we wait to see how he does in a feud.) The Fashion Files was decent and I like their shirts. Dislikes: Baron continues to fall and most of the night was pretty forgettable and a little boring. Rating: 4.4

Keri: What has happened to Smackdown? Remember a year ago when Smackdown was must see TV and RAW, well, wasn’t worth watching at all. Those were good times. What happened to those times? Rating: 2.9

Kent: I could have not watched an hour and a half of this and missed anything significant. Definite holding pattern episode. By gawd, I guess they miss Cena more than we thought!!!!! Eh, I will be a dick and say 3.3 as the whole night really underwhelmed.

Final Thoughts

Russ: I was going to be clever and try to make this all about Game of Thrones, while making it seem like I was talking about wrestling…(you know I was going to say something about backstabbing, lots of talking from important characters who will eventually have to fight each other, but for now are working together. That sort of thing.) However, the way wrestling has been lately it made me think… wouldn’t it be great if we could get Game of Thrones on a weekly basis and Wrestling only had 7 episodes a year! Think about it. We bitch about wrestling being mediocre, well only getting 7 episodes might make WWE try a little harder. While GOT could really extend itself into the lore if they had to give us weekly episodes. What I’m trying to say was GOT season 7 was great, while WWE continues to wear on me as a consumer.

Keri: Is it me or is wrestling just not worth watching anymore? Nothing is exciting and I seem to see the same thing week in and week out. You would think the casual fan would also start getting bored at tuning in and see pretty much the same show each week. Maybe they don’t yet the ratings keep going down (for the most part) and nothing changes. Oh well. I guess the powers that be at WWE know more than I do. Either way, I’m very very bored by the current product. Le sigh.

Kent: There was a recent article about Mike Kenellis going into rehab for painkiller addiction. The whole thing was sad and inspiring in odd ways. I know that his run has been terrible so far, but a person can always be given a push. Right now, I just hope that he is getting better every day and that the WWE eventually gives him and Maria another chance.. They have a great song, she is hot as hell, he’s a very good in ring hand, and they have a gimmick that is irritating. They could be stars. I haven’t given up on Mike and Maria and I hope the fans haven’t either. I don’t say this because he’s my boy, but he has potential to be very good.

Also, just because I know that you like various photo galleries, or at least I enjoy them, here are some from this week. First up is a gallery of Superstars on the Beach, and man, just take a look, both guys and gals.